OK, THAT'S IT! I AM PISSED! Does everyone here get it or not?

[jsamuel]

We need to contact REPUBLICAN SENATORS, not about the illegal wiretapping, but about the argument used to defend the illegal wiretapping, namely "inherent authority." Gonzo, yesterday, tried to tell Congress with a straight face that the "inherent authority" of the President, as is in the Constitution, gives the President the authority to IGNORE LAWS PASSED BY THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH. This flies in the face of EVERYTHING CONGRESS HAS EVER KNOWN. It flies in the face of every Republican in Congress who wants power for that matter.

The Republicans KNOW that they cannot let this contradiction BROUGHT UP BY the illegal wiretapping stand. They think that if they shew away the wiretapping issue by consulting the Bush Admin (the hearings) and changing the law so that the violation no longer exists, then all their problems are solved and they don't need to oppose or impeach their President.

However, two Republicans (fortunately on the Judiciary Committee) realized that the illegal wiretapping is really not the problem here, rather the argument for defending the wiretapping that is the BIG issue that threatens the Constitution, the Law of the United States, and the Separation of Powers. Essentially, the argument being used, the "inherent authority", is an attempt by the Bush Administration to effectively leave Congress powerless.

If you understand anything about our constitution, then you must understand that by letting the President ignore the law Congress makes, then you are destroying America. The founding fathers based this country on the idea of Separation of Powers. If the President is able to circumvent both the Legislative Branch and Judicial Branch, then we are in a dictatorship. Even if you trust Bush, the next president (maybe a Dem even) could use this as precedent to take total control of the government because he would be immune from law.

WE MUST UNDERSTAND WHAT THE REAL ISSUE HERE IS! Not the wiretapping (which is important), but the assertion by the Bush Administration that the President has the authority to seize control of the American government because he is no longer checkable by the Legislative or Judicial Branches.

This is it folks. This is what a dictatorial power grab looks like.

We MUST get Republicans on our side NOW! They must understand that making warrantless wiretapping legal will not solve the issue that the Bush Administration is trying to make Congress powerless. Any time the same issue comes up, the Bush Administration will use the same argument. For example, Bush asserting that he has the power to basically ignore the anti-torture bill. Or any of the other programs that Gonzales would not tell us about at the hearings.

The only solution to this problem is the prosecution of the Bush Administration for breaking the law, period.

I have set up a website to help, but you can contact the senators any way you want:
http://truthdigger.blogspot.com/2006/02/senator-russ-feingold-asks-us-to-call.html
also see the related DU thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=347473&mesg_id=347473

FAX NUMBERS FOR Judiciary Committee Repubs:
United States Senate
Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Specter [phone]
Hatch [phone]
Kyl [phone]
DeWine [phone]
Sessions [phone]
Graham [phone]
Cornyn [phone]
Brownback [phone]
Coburn [phone]